Farewell Party

We left Allentown rather abruptly in the end of May and didn't really get to say good bye to our friends. The evening after our closing we went to Jasmine and Brady's for a very nice send off party. The kids had a great time getting to play together again and Jason and I had a lovely time with our friends. We'll miss everyone a ton. This is Erika and the miracle Silas you all have been praying for. I was so happy to get to meet him! This is Daniel serenading us. He was playing and singing ABCs but I missed that.

Construction

Since we spend so many mornings watching the construction all around the neighborhood, I thought I would share some more cute pictures of this frequent activity.

Homeless

Well, we are officially homeless. Our house closing was successful and mostly an act of God. We listed without a realtor, had a contract in 24 hours, and then went to settlement in five weeks. So good-bye Schnecksville townhouse (with all that Jason did to make it a very cozy home).




After searching all the houses in a 15 mile radius of Mechanicsburg and coming up with nothing short of This Old House Nightmares we found this adorable place in Mount Holly Springs. It was out of our price range but our agents have worked together a lot in the past so we discovered that they would take an offer we could afford. Best of all there is nothing pressing that needs to be done to move in. There are always things to be done to personalize and improve but nothing needed to simply make it livable! We are waiting on the current owners to find a new home and have a tentative closing date for August 31. Please pray that all goes well and that we can get settled in before the baby comes in October.

Our Workin' Boy

Daniel wants to get to work first thing in the morning. If I am still in bed when he wakes up (which is often the case as he likes to get up around 6:15AM) he runs over to our room and yells, "One, Two, Wake Up Mommy!" Sometimes I can get him to lay in bed with me until I can move and feel like heaving myself out of bed but then it is full speed ahead.

Just like his daddy, he is a very hard worker. He puts on his "work shoes" (brown leather just like Daddy and Pop Pop wear to work) and wants to get to work. Usually the first thing he wants to do is mow the lawn. He pretends that his little tractor (which looks just like my dad's) can actually cut the grass and takes it very seriously.
He'll stop mowing to work in the garden, pull weeds, or dig in the back where he says he is going to build me a house.
If there is activity on the new houses going up all around us, we'll sometimes stop to watch the diggers but then it is back to work.
If Pop Pop or Daddy are working at home he'll often want to sit next to them and work on his computer too. I just think he is adorable!

Baby Girl Marquiss

Moving to a new area means having a new doctor - it also apparently means lots more ultrasounds. With my pregnancy history I had to have a new full anatomy screen, meet with all new OBs and Maternal Fetal Medicine teams, will have a check up every two weeks and have at least two additional ultrasounds scheduled. That is a lot of trips to the Doctor! So far I feel like I am in great hands though. Everyone I have met has been great and Hershey Medical Center is the best in the region. Here is our little girl as of 7/5/11. I might have more next week if they send some home with me.

Fun Times with Daniel

We are trying to keep Daniel busy so he doesn't get too upset that things are a little crazy. I took him home to help clean up the house a bit so we could take pictures of the house and we made one (probably last) visit to the zoo there. We went to visit Jason's grandparents for Father's Day where Daniel got to ride a tractor and do some yard work. Over Independence Day weekend we took him to a safari/zoo place called Lake Tobias where he got to feed "wild" animals from an open bus. That was a really cool experience for everyone and Daniel was so brave that he even let the big animals take food right from his hand. We have been going swimming as much as possible and Daniel is starting to have a great time jumping in.

Update

Things got a little crazy the past month or so. Jason went for an interview at TRAC in Mechanicsburg the first week of May. He was called back right away to come in the following week. That next Friday he had a job offer. . . give two weeks notice to boss. . . move in with Kat's parents over Memorial Day weekend. . . Kat's sisters in Mechanicsburg for extended visits. . . Jason starts new job May 31. . . run back and forth to home a few times to clean up, move clutter to storage unit, and take pictures for the sales listing. . . list Kat's little two door sports car to sell on Craigslist. . . sell car in two days. . . get home listed with flat fee service. . . sell house in 24 hours. . .

So now we are waiting for settlement of our house and starting to look for a new place near Mechanicsburg.

It was difficult to manage all of these details while trying to visit with my sisters and their families and deal with just being pregnant!

Here is a photo update of some of the fun we had though. Sharon was here when we arrived so Daniel and Ella got to play together and Daniel got to love on his little baby cousin Leo too. We tried to let the kids sleep in the same room but after two nights they realized they were together and no more sleep was to be had until we moved Daniel into the Den at night. By the end of the week they were the best of friends and had adorable conversations at the breakfast table. He missed her terribly when they left.




After a week at home, Laurel and her family came in. Everyone was there for three days in a whirl-wind of fun and activity. The kids had a blast playing together but we were all so busy chasing after them that we didn't get many pictures of everyone together. We did have a professional come to do a photo shoot - I'll put some of those up later.




The following week was mostly quiet while the Eriksen's went to Long Island to visit some of Lars' family. Then they came back for a full week. Luke and Leah didn't play as well with Daniel but we were able to do some fun activities together. (I missed out on some of it while being on the phone trying to settle details of the home sale.)
We went to Lancaster County and rode the Stausburg Railroad Steam Engine. Thomas was there getting ready for his big weekend and we saw him resting.







Most of the time was spent just keeping busy. We played ball, bounced a lot, and rode/fought over the tractor.